


The Risks of Truth and Dare

by juiceboxjellyfish



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Carry On Countdown 2019, First Kiss, M/M, Normal AU, Truth or Dare, prompt: firsts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21923173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juiceboxjellyfish/pseuds/juiceboxjellyfish
Summary: Simon and Baz play truth or dare at a party, and someone gives Simon a dare which makes things complicated.
Relationships: Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Comments: 14
Kudos: 142
Collections: Carry On Countdown 2019





	The Risks of Truth and Dare

SIMON

The music is too loud and the apartment is too crowded but I’m just tipsy enough not to be bothered by any of it. People are smoking on the balcony and the door has been left ajar, letting in cold night air that somehow manages to be refreshing despite the tobacco smell. I’m not quite sure how I ended up agreeing to play truth or dare, but apparently I did. I’m sitting in a circle on the floor with a mix of people I see in lectures on a daily basis and people I’ve never seen before in my life. They’re all various levels of drunk, most of them are sweaty and red-faced from dancing in the crowded apartment, and in my tipsy eyes they’re all stunningly beautiful. I never want to be drunker than this. Everything is so easy and lovely and wonderful right now, and the headache I’ll wake up with tomorrow feels distant and unrealistic. Baz is in the circle with us. He must be drunk too, he’d never do this otherwise. He too looks stunning to me, and I am overcome by a wave of intense affection for him. I don’t know how I’d manage university without him. He’s the one piece of home I could bring with me, the one friend I won’t grow apart from.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts by someone calling my name, and I realise a bit too slowly that it’s my turn.  
“Truth or dare?”, she slurs. I’m about to say truth just because I don’t feel like standing up or moving or really doing anything else than siting here admiring everyone else, but then I realise what it could mean. There are people I know here – friends, acquaintances, Baz – and there are things I’m not ready to tell them. Even if at least half of them are too drunk to remember anything.  
“Dare.” The girl looks a bit disappointed, like she already had a question prepared. She looks around, visibly trying to come up with something.  
“I dare you to kiss Baz”, she says, giggling slightly. Baz looks at me, more perfect than usual, and suddenly the pleasant buzz is gone. My stomach twists uncomfortably and I can feel my face heat up. Baz is still looking at me but I can’t meet his eyes long enough to decipher his expression.   
“I don’t wanna”, I mumble.  
“What?”, the girl says.   
“No”, I say, louder this time. “I don’t want to.”  
“It’s truth or dare, you’re not supposed to want to.”  
The room is spinning now, and I stumble over my own feet as I stand up.   
“I don’t want to”, I repeat, now towering over everyone in the circle. I head for the door but the room is too crowded and I keep having to push people aside. The music is unbearably loud and everyone smells like sweat and alcohol and cigarettes and maybe weed and it’s all too overwhelming, I can barely think until I finally get the door open and find myself in the stairwell. There are people here too, crying or making out or just talking where it’s not so loud, so I stumble down the stairs and out the front door. Slightly dizzy, I sit down on a bench in front of the building. The air is chilly and as fresh as it gets in the middle of the city, and I only need about three deep breaths to calm down enough to think. You can still hear the music out here, probably because of the open balcony door. Whoever lives in the apartment is going to get some serious complaints from their neighbours tomorrow. 

It’s only January, and now that I’ve calmed down a bit I can really feel the cold. The bench is damp from what was at some point snow, and my shirt barely keeps the wintery air out. I should go home, but my Oyster card is in my jacket upstairs and I don’t want to go back inside. So I stay on the damp bench, staring into the night as my fingers go numb. 

I hear the door opening behind me, and someone walks up to the bench.  
“You forgot this”, he says, handing me my jacket. It’s Baz. He sits down next to me.  
“Am I really that repulsive?”, he asks. I don’t want this conversation. Not now, not like this.  
“No”, I sigh. “It’s just…” I don’t want to tell him. It’s pathetic. “It’s just that I haven’t… I’ve never kissed anyone.” He doesn’t laugh. I should’ve known he wouldn’t, but it feels laughable to me. He just sits there silently for a moment.   
“And you didn’t want an audience for your first kiss”, he states.  
“Who would?”  
“Definitely a minority.”  
There’s more silence, but it’s comfortable. There are so many things hanging in the air, so many things neither of us are saying, but no pressure to say them.  
“I guess I just want something different”, I say.  
“With someone different?”, he asks.   
“No.” I can’t look at him, so I stare at the street in front of us. “But in a different situation.”   
He grabs my hand.   
“Would now be okay?”  
I force myself to look at him and there he is, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. His hair is sticking to his sweaty forehead and his cheeks and nose are red from the cold, and he’s looking at me like I’m as gorgeous as he is. It knocks the air out of me, so I just nod. He cups my face with his other hand and leans in to me. His breath smells like alcohol, but I’m sure mine does too. When our lips meet, I completely forget the cold. He’s so warm, and my insides light up when he touches me, and then I forget everything. For a moment, my mind is just blank, and all I can feel is his mouth against mine. He pulls away, and the world seems different.   
“Whoa”, I breathe, because it’s all I can manage. His mouth is hanging slightly open and his eyes are glowing, and I could look at him forever.   
“Can we do that again?”, I ask. He grins at me and pulls me closer.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't drink, kids. But if you must, do it responsibly.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!! Please please please leave a comment of you liked it! They make my day every time, I absolutely adore reading them!
> 
> Only one day left of the countdown now!!


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